Devils Fall Apart, Pens Win 4-2
The New Jersey Devils fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2
in game 2 of their best of seven Eastern Conference Finals series, on
Tuesday, May 15, 2001.
Referees Paul Devorski and Kevin Pollack sure didn't hide
the fact that they were trying to make it easy for Mario Lemieux.
There were numerous bad calls made throughout the entire game, heavily
tipping the odds in favor of the Penguins.
I understand that Gary Bettman is looking for the NHL to
get higher ratings, but fixing the games so that the Penguins make the
Stanley Cup finals is a bit ridiculous - yet that's what it seems is
happening. What is with these TV timeouts perfectly timed so
that Mario can get some rest? I mean, a TV timeout, in the middle
of 4-4 action? Why is it that there seem to be twice as many TV
timeouts in the Pittsburgh Games? Timed perfectly for Mario...
The Devils were off to a good start in the first period.
It was good to see Scott Niedermayer and Sergei Brylin back in
the lineup.. The crowd let Nieds know they were happy with his
return, by chanting 'Niedermayer, Niedermayer, Niedermayer'.Jay Pandolfo scored his first goal of the playoffs at
8:52, with assists from Bob Corkum, and Sergei Nemchinov. Petr
Sykora scored shorthanded at 16:34 with assists from Patrick Elias and
Scott Stevens.
One thing missing from the Devils game which was apparent
right from the start - was the Devils physical play. Where was
the hitting we saw in game 1? This was definitely a factor in the
loss.
The Devils led 2-0 at the end of the first period.
The second period was just bad for the Devils, this is
where they fell apart. The Devils gave the puck away way too
many times in their own zone, which created too many chances for the
Penguins, who score 3 times in the period.
One of the big non-calls happened a little over 6 minutes
into the second period. The "great" Mario broke his stick with
a hard crosscheck to John Madden. What should have been a penalty
was not called, and the Devils began to lose their composure.
Morozov scored a shorthanded goal at 9:20. At
12:17, Kovalev scored for the Pens to tie the game 2-2. Corbet
scored at 15:55 to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead.
The Penguins led 3-2 after the second period.
The Devils still were not themselves in the third period,
letting Lang score for the Pens to make it 4-2. This was the
fourth unanswered goal the Devils let up, blowing their 2-0 lead.
Patrick Elias scored with 7:52 remaining, but the goal was
disallowed because referee Kevin Pollack blew the whistle. The
puck was clearly loose, but this was another instance where the refs
felt they had to help he Pens out. Pollack didn't even move out
from behind the net, he never came out to get a closer look.
Final score, Pittsburgh wins 4-2.
Ken Sutton and Turner Stevenson who had been playing in
the previous game were scratched last night, due to the return of Scott
Niedermayer and Sergei Brylin.